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LIQUOR REFORM
STILL REMOTE
PUBLIC opinion, having learned
to expect- more froth -than
substance when -the -subject ed
liquor - yeform is . fnentioned ; in
..-political- circles, win not De excuea
by forecasts that thei Liberal Partyls
fact-finding committee will soon
publish its report. < ; .
: \On ..the kindred , subject of hotel
accommodation,, concern- wps ex
pressed this week by one spokesman
for! the' : licensed victuallers. He
suggested . that the withholding of
building /permits, for hotel premises
'would inflict ' hardship on single
people. . widows and widowers who
are affected by the housing
shortage. The comment of many
Victorians, will be that this show of
interest, in the seeker after hotel
board :comes- rather late.
. The - fact is that the faults and
anomalies of the liquor trade in this
State, in regard- to both drinking
conditions and the provision of
rooms and meals for the public,
have been endured for so. long that
people have almost abandoned hope
of improvement.
The' his&ry of the fact-finding
committee illustrates the hesitant
atmosphere that has always per
vaded the idea of doing something
about the liquor trade in Victoria.
This committee was set up more
than two years ago, after both the
Labor Party and the Country Party
had declined to join the Liberals in
making an all-party investigation.
The convener, Mr Dawnay-Mould,
then expected that . the inquiry
would take six months.-
Teh months later, he forecast, a
report that would -"please every
body." Nineteen months after they
crossed their start-line, committee
members were said- to be "editing"
their report. . Later . still, by last
January, their . convener said that
he was "putting.- the finishing
touches" to the' document. At any
moment, now; . ;it may see the light
of day.
But nobody expects the report to
be more than, another . curiosity
added to a strange and/cumbrous
No such investigation was needed
to reveal the main lines of desirable
reform. The State needs a liquor
trading system that gives the
temperate citizen a higher average
standard of cleanliness and com
fort. It is certainly not a matter of
encouraging people to drink more.
There is a case,- too, for revising
that' provision of the Licensing Act
by which the number of clubs with
liquor licences is restricted to the
total existing in 1917. There is need
to simplify-'an act which now con
tains 323 sections, with amending
acus, ruies, ana scneauies.
In particular, the travelling public
has a right, to' expect a better effort
by many licensees in meeting their
: duty to provide -meals and accom
modation. This effort does not
depend on the issue of building
permits. It needs only a general
willingness by hotelkeepers to use
existing accommodation to the full.
Public polls and Royal Commis
sions have dealt. .with the- problem,
but Governmentsr-o'f all. parties have
been tob-'timid-.to'act: The produc
tion of one more report is not likely
to inspire the necessary political
courage. It seems that Victorians
must either find a new way of
injecting initiative into members of
Parliament or abandon all hope of
liquor reform.
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